Cuomo's Not Buying It

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is [suing a company from Washington State] that sends kids all over the country to sell magazine subscriptions door-to-door, using promises of [incentives like vacations, and promises a high earnings potential](http://www.newyorkbusiness.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070808/FREE/70808010/1084) to recruit them. Cuomo charges that [Jaguar Sales LLC](http://www.jaguarpersonnel.com/perks.html) is exploiting them by holding back their pay; making them work 12-hour days, six days a week; withholding wages; charging them for travel expenses and for breaking arbitrary rules; making it extremely hard for them to quit since they work far from home, while their wages are withheld; and forcing them to work in neighborhoods where it’s [illegal to sell door-to-door without a permit](http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050601/REPOSITORY/506010312/1031). They often have run-ins with police in these places.

Jaguar Sales sent salespeople to New York without registering to do business here, another charge Cuomo is hitting them with.He wants Jaguar to compensate workers who went door-to-door in New York State for wages they should have received over the last six years, and wants to require them to post a $200,000 bond if they intend to do business here.

The investigation began when two young men selling for Jaguar in Duchess County complained to local police.Jaguar Sales may be putting the young people it hires in danger, but it’s far from the [only magazine sales company] that’s doing it. Members of magazine sales “crews” are often involved in traffic accidents, and violent incidents, on the road.